“You... you’ll be spending a lot more time with the Foundation Establishment seniors now. If I speak casually to you around the other seniors, it’ll muddle the hierarchy. It’ll make things awkward.”

“Do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“... I know that’s what I should do, but it feels like we’re growing apart.”

Seol Ryeong added dejectedly, “Like someone’s taking my friend away...”

“Then just act the way you always have.”

“I told you, if I do that—”

“Who cares about the hierarchy? Look at Pi Garam. He hasn’t changed much, has he? I’m not forcing that bizarre custom on friends who’ve been with me since we were fledglings.”

“...”

“I hear even the Hall Masters are casual with the people they grew up with, regardless of differences in realm.”

Seol Ryeong stared down at her empty bowl for a long while, then sighed softly.

“I won’t let myself fall too far behind.”

“Good. It’s not as if your advancement is slow. The higher the realm, the longer cultivation takes, so we should gradually even out.”

“Yes. I’ll work harder.”

She wore an uncharacteristically resolute expression.

“I won’t be forgotten or stay a friend in name only. I understand how Hae Unchan feels now.”

“Still, I doubt Hae Unchan is as lazy as you.”

“You really piss me off...”

A dual-attribute spiritual root bearer at the sixth star of Qi Refining had respectable talent and a respectable pace of advancement.

Well, she would manage on her own.

Yise decided not to worry.

“Wash the dishes before you go.”

* * *

The next morning, Chief Administrator Sugyeom summoned Yise.

They met on the upper floor of the administrative pavilion within the Hall of Essential Deliberations, at the highest point of the main mountain. Unlike their encounter in the square yesterday, today they were alone.

Sugyeom offered him a cup of tea, lightly steeped with spiritual herbs.

“Sit.”

Yise took a seat. As he sipped the tea, he felt a faint spiritual energy gently tending to his body.

Sugyeom went straight to the point.

“As I said, upon reaching Foundation Establishment, you are promoted to legacy disciple and must choose an Inner Hall.”

“Must I belong to an Inner Hall?”

“It’s our wartime chain of command, so there’s no avoiding it. Once you reach Core Formation, you can establish your own Inner Hall. You need only remain affiliated until then.”

Sugyeom handed Yise an organizational chart of the Inner Halls. It listed each hall’s master and duties.

Yise slowly read through it.

Azure Dragon Hall. A one-person Inner Hall consisting of Hall Master Hae Il. Takes no legacy disciples.

Vermilion Bird Hall. A gathering of specialists in the Four Great Crafts.

Soaring Serpent Hall. Shamans who specialize in spirit-based cultivation methods.

Yellow Dragon Hall. Staff members responsible for the practical work of administering and operating the main mountain.

Black Tortoise Hall. Oversees the royal houses and noble families of the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula.

Kirin Hall. Oversees entrance examinations and the outer affiliates’ outposts.

Spirit Turtle Hall. An Inner Hall of Dokkaebi. Effectively Gwisu Temple’s fighting force, responsible for seeking out demonic practitioners within the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula.

Earth Guardian Hall, White Tiger Hall, Winged Dragon Hall, and Phoenix Hall. The core of the main mountain’s military strength. Primarily responsible for warfare against demonic practitioners crossing over from the Jeong Empire and other outside forces.

‘Not many choices.’

In practice, one of the last four would suit him.

Sugyeom took a sip of tea and continued.

“Each hall differs in character and atmosphere as well as duties. Some have close-knit disciples, while in others, people merely belong on paper and barely know who their fellows are. Some harp on pureblood status, and others consist entirely of nonhumans.”

“... May I think it over before deciding?”

“Of course.”

Before rising, Yise asked one more question.

“Oh, Chief Administrator.”

Sugyeom looked at him.

“Has the matter of the gu parasite taken from my head been resolved?”

“We confirmed that it was the work of the Iron Sun Thunder Sect’s leader, Bihyeong Rang, the Tyrant of Ten Thousand Demons. The parasite appears to have been intended to investigate something and relay information, but we don’t know the details. His mastery over venomous insects is arguably the greatest on the continent.”

Yise’s gaze hardened.

Bihyeong Rang. If he bore the title Tyrant of Ten Thousand Demons, Yise could imagine the extent of his Rank.

“Don’t worry. Apart from a few remnants, the Iron Sun Thunder Sect has fled to the western wilderness to escape pursuit. At least as long as Hall Master Hae Il is here, they won’t set foot on this land again.”

Yise briefly steadied his breathing.

Driven out. Fled. They would never set foot here again.

Something in his chest sank a little.

The one who had controlled the Wadu-Scholar and slaughtered his family had already been driven away by the main mountain’s other forces, before Yise could act himself.

Where relief should have come, a hollow feeling settled instead.

Still, Sugyeom had said they hadn’t been completely annihilated.

Remnants remained, and Bihyeong Rang himself had merely fled, not died.

That meant Yise still had a reason to travel to the western wilderness when he reached Core Formation.

Yise answered quietly.

“... I understand.”

Perhaps reading the feeling behind those words, Sugyeom sighed softly.

“I understand how you feel. But put it aside for now and focus on your cultivation. If you encounter Bihyeong Rang before reaching Core Formation, you’ll meet a fate even more wretched than when you encountered Han Juok. He’s a monster on an entirely different level from an old fiend like Han Juok.”

“... I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yise rose from his seat.

Before he reached the door, Sugyeom added one last remark.

“I’d rather not watch the Hall Masters come to blows over recruiting talent, so decide quickly.”

“Yes.”

With a brief smile, Yise paid his respects and left the administrative pavilion.

“A staff member will show you to your new residence.”

* * *

His new residence was a tile-roofed house in the Inner Hall district on the western side of the main mountain.

‘It even has a yard.’

A detached house, no less, with a yard large enough for a vegetable garden.

It even had a private workshop and cultivation room. The accommodations were far better than he had expected.

The staff member waiting while Yise looked around slipped in an explanation.

“Foundation Establishment Cultivators may select three staff members to attend to their personal needs. The main mountain pays their wages, so feel free to choose.”

“There’s more?”

“Yes. There is. May I explain?”

“Sure. Please do.”

“Foundation Establishment Cultivators can use all five libraries, regardless of their contribution points. You must still pay the fees, of course.”

That was welcome news. He had put off so many missions that he was making slow progress on contribution points.

“Your missions will also become irregular. Rather than the fixed annual mission assigned to Qi Refining Cultivators, you’ll receive missions as the need arises.”

“Oh. That’s nice.”

“However, our sect is always short of Foundation Establishment personnel, so you may not have as much free time as you hope.”

After thanking the staff member, Yise immediately scoured Libraries One through Five, copying every book he could find on the Cultivation system and the cultivation world and bringing them home.

He wanted to understand why he had been utterly helpless against the great Core Formation Cultivator from the Jeong Empire.

‘I can’t rely solely on conventional cultivation.’

He had an unusual constitution.

Yet aside from possessing twice the internal reserves and being able to sense both spiritual energy and Demonic Energy, he could see little difference between himself and other Cultivators.

The Twin-Banner Spirit-Domain Sealing Standard wasn’t his own strength, merely power someone else had given him.

He kept feeling that he wasn’t making proper use of his constitution.

‘The Lord of Daemudo had even less information than I do, yet created cultivation methods and advanced through the realms.’

He couldn’t simply rely on information from others.

As the saying went, to see a thousand li farther, climb one level higher.

‘I can’t ask someone and lean on them every time. I need to research and study more actively, so I can understand and use my constitution on my own.’

Hall Master U Yuhee had taken forty-eight years to reach Core Formation.

A long time, or a short one, depending on how one looked at it.

One thing was certain: with his current approach to cultivation, Yise would never catch up.

Deepening his understanding of Cultivation and pursuing knowledge in many fields.

That was his most pressing task.

Yise began working through the mountain of books, one by one.

After several days of reading without budging from his seat, Yise stepped out of his residence to open Dine Before You Depart.

Around that time, a piece of news struck the main mountain, sending it into an uproar.

A great Cultivator in the Jeong Empire had broken through to Nascent Soul.

It was news that shattered the balance of the Eastern Continent.

A herald of troubled times.

* * *

On its first day back in business, Dine Before You Depart buzzed with talk of the Jeong Empire’s great Nascent Soul Cultivator.

There would be war. They had to assassinate him first. Daemudo was doomed.

Unverified rumors drifted through the shop.

The reason the Jeong Empire had avoided direct conflict with Daemudo until now was simple.

The Eastern Continent’s sole great Nascent Soul Cultivator belonged to Daemudo.

Azure Dragon Hall Master Hae Il.

The Jeong Empire had overwhelmingly more Core Formation and Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Had they fought an all-out war, Daemudo would already have been wiped out, with the exception of Hall Master Hae Il.

But who could bear the wrath of a great Nascent Soul Cultivator afterward?

The rage of a supreme being with only heaven above him would not subside until the entire Jeong Empire was drenched in blood.

If the Jeong Empire united completely against Hae Il, perhaps even a Nascent Soul Cultivator could not overcome its numerical advantage.

But the empire’s cultivation world was not a single sect. Naturally, predation, rivalry, and warfare were common even within its borders.

Now, however, that balance had been shaken.

With a great Nascent Soul Cultivator emerging from the Pill Refining Sect, the Jeong Empire’s order would be restructured around that sect.

The others would either bow in submission to the new supreme power or vanish into history. The former was far more likely.

The continent’s future now depended on the decisions of the great Cultivator said to have newly reached Nascent Soul.

All he needed to do was keep Hall Master Hae Il occupied, and Daemudo would be swept away.

Of course, even a great Nascent Soul Cultivator would find it daunting to face Hae Il, who had reached Great Perfection of Nascent Soul.

But once Hae Il reached Spirit Transformation, none of it would matter. If the newcomer aimed to unite the Eastern Continent’s cultivation world, this was his only opportunity.

That was why all of Daemudo was on edge.

‘So what changes for me?’

Yise decided not to concern himself.

It was a matter for those above him, anyway.

The insights within his reach mattered more.

After closing Dine Before You Depart, Yise left the main mountain and boarded the White Luan Boat.

The power the Core Formation Cultivator had used against him was called “primordial energy.”

It was a form of spiritual energy closer to the fundamental power of living beings. Cultivators gradually began to grasp it at late-stage Foundation Establishment and gained the ability to use it at Core Formation.

Those who had yet to reach late-stage Foundation Establishment couldn’t even sense it, leaving them helpless against it.

Of course, some Foundation Establishment ritual implements could resist primordial energy, so Yise had already put out inquiries, even if all he could find was a single-use talisman.

Now that he had clarified his understanding of the Cultivation system, the path ahead seemed a little clearer.

As the White Luan Boat entered Gwisu Temple’s territory, the Dokkaebi came flocking over.

After thoroughly showing off his new means of transport, Yise headed to the inner hall where his master resided.

“Have you come scurrying over to boast about reaching Foundation Establishment?”

“Yes, Master.”

Yise knelt formally before his master, looking like a child hoping for praise.